It was not a sight everyone would want to see. There was blood dripping from the leg and she was under immense pain trying to ward off unseen offenders. The cow which was unfortunately a victim of hit and run was lying and crying for help on the highway to Udaipur. She was suffering for long until a person kind enough to note her pain stopped and called us to help her.

What happened?

It was on the wee hours of the morning in the month of August, when we received a distress call on a cow, abandoned and suffering from pain. The cow had been the victim of the hit and run and was left to tend to its wounds on the leg. The cow was under immense pain when our team visited the spot after receiving a call from a person who saw the animal suffer.

The person who called us was stopping on the highway to attend to nature’s call when he heard the cries of the cow from afar. Upon investigation on the sound of the cries, he found the cow struggling to stand and failing every time. It was clear that the cow has suffered a leg injury and with the loss of blood it was clear that she lacked the strength to endure either. The hind leg of the cow has been cut off and was dangling by a very thin vein from her knee. With so much blood pouring out, the cow was getting tired with each passing second. The leg of the cow has been run over and it was dangling down from the knee and probably needed amputation.And it was a good thing that we were called to aid immediately.

Amputation was the only way!

We were not sure on the severity of the injury and the cow was not allowing us near to check her condition. She was obviously scared and feared that we were going to hurt her. It took us some time and a little sedation to examine the wound. And unfortunately there was no chance of saving the leg completely. We had to go for amputation to save the cow from further infection. We had to shift her immediately to our medical facilities.

It was painful to even move the cow and transfer her to the ambulance. The wailing was tugging at our hearts and it was with extreme care and great difficulty and with of course a heavy heart, we transferred her to the ambulance and took her further to our medical clinic for immediate attention. While it was very clear that the cow’s leg had to be amputated, we couldn’t start on the process immediately.

Stabilization became a necessity

It was clear from the cow’s condition that she has been suffering for long and therefore has lost a lot of blood. Also she was malnourished which meant that she didn’t have the energy in her to survive the surgery. So she was immediately given pain medication and IV fluids to build up her strength. We had to wait for her to get the cow to recover before starting on the amputation.

Once the health of the cow was stable and her vitals were strong, we took her into the surgery where she was attended to by some of the best doctors we have on our team. And now, despite having a part of her hind leg missing, she is healthy and well nourished by our center.

Taking care of the bovine

Our job or rather our duty did not just end with the amputation. We ensure that the animal that we take into our care is completely taken care of and is well recovered and is able to sustain on its own. The cow’s amputation surgery went well and yet she was very weak. It was quite evident that she must have been skipping on food for some days and it was quite unfortunate that she ran into the highway where she met with a hit and run. It was even more unfortunate that the person who hit her, didn’t stop to pay attention to what happened.

After the surgery, her wound had to be taken care of with everyday antibiotics and dressing changes. Let us tell you it is not that easy or less painful to the bovine. But we should commend to the fact that she took in her stride. After the initial pain and suffering she was quite content in letting us help her. She was willing to let us near her and tend to her physically.

What was fortunate though is the fact that all humanity is not lost and there was a person kind enough to take action. Now coming back to her care, she has been recuperating in our shelter since that fateful day in August. While she has to limp her way around, she is assuredly content, peaceful and happy. She is well cared for by experienced and skilled caretakers in our center.

What can we do?

In this case, the cow was lucky enough, though late, to find a person caring and kind enough to take action for her. And she was fortunate to have the center able to arrive at her spot and rescue her. But not all the bovines or cattle are lucky enough. It is our duty as humans, the superior race in this world, to take care of the other species as they are our own.

It is with the love we share for the cows, that we can better our lives. We all know that cows help us in every step of our lives from little children to elderly in innumerous ways. And yet many of us are ignorant to the suffering we put our cows to. It is time we start looking up at them as more than just mere cattle. It is time that our bovines find happiness like the cow in the above incident.